entertainer
Americannoun
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entertainers
plural
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a singer, comedian, dancer, reciter, or the like, especially a professional one.
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a person who entertains; host.
She was one of the capital's great entertainers.
noun
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a professional singer, comedian, or other performer who takes part in public entertainments
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any person who entertains
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of entertainer
Explanation
An entertainer is a person whose job or goal is to perform for the amusement of others. If you're an entertainer, you might learn how to tap dance and take singing lessons. If you make your living as a comedian, you're an entertainer. You're also an entertainer if you're a dancer, singer, actor, or puppeteer. In all of these cases, your job is to entertain an audience. You can also call the member of your family who's always trying to make everyone laugh an entertainer. The word comes from the verb entertain, which originally meant "to keep up or maintain," and came to also mean "amuse" in the early 17th century.
Vocabulary lists containing entertainer
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
At first, Pearce didn’t see himself as a kids’ entertainer.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
This huge talent plays with a smile on his face and is a natural entertainer who departed the tournament with three goals in four games.
From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026
“Best and Last’s” flashbacks are a walloping reminder that Knoxville is inimitable: a telegenic and extroverted entertainer with a charisma he wields like a skunk aims its stink.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2026
It was the first time I really learned how to talk to an audience, read a room as an entertainer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026
He was a natural entertainer with a lovely voice and a fine ear.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
While Tiafoe is one of the sport's great entertainers, 22-year-old Michelsen is more understated.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
“There were certain acts that just filled the house and certain ones that didn’t,” says the park’s president, Tyler Carter, adding that early performances swung drastically from hip-hop to Christian rock entertainers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Big personalities like Rousey and Conor McGregor helped him do it: both great fighters in their own right, both polarizing entertainers capable of generating big headlines.
From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2026
"Sometimes people say athletes are in show business or entertainers or whatever," Osaka said.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
A holiday for the whole district with free food and entertainers brought in from the Capitol.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
